Last Thu we went to the midnight showing of the dark night. We got there about an hour early so we would have a good spot in line. However at that time an hour before the movie started the line was already around the side of the building. 20 min later it had made it to furniture warehouse, and by the time they had opened the doors it has come back up the sidewalk and circled around in front of the theater where we were standing. Counting the people who had made it inside the line was easily 400m long. I had guessed about 1500 people.
Once we got in we found out from the staff that all of the screens would be showing the movie so we just picked one. It was late starting (I assume because they were not expecting that ridiculous # of people showing up), and due to a misprint on imdb in ended up being 152min instead of 142. So was it worth staying up till 4am on a weeknight… Abso-fucking-lutly.
Everyone has been talking about how awesome Heath Ledger was, so I am not going to mention it at all (though it is true). If you would like to read more please see one of the 1000 other blogs on the topic. However the depth of all of the characters in this movie was truly astounding. It seems like all of the action movies I have watched lately have had such flat uninteresting characters that I have been bored beyond belief. Batman shows a lineup of characters who each possess the raw humanity that you do not see much.
How about some compare and contrast:
Joker (ok I guess I lied)
Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson as himself (dressed as the Joker). Have you noticed that every character that Jack plays is exactly the same (crazy, neurotic, same voice) I am starting to think that is not so much the character he is playing but just who he is. Even at the Oscars he has that same creepy vibe.
By stark contrast the Current joker is dark, creepy, menacing, and a definite departure for the actor. This is the reason for Coulrophobia. Ledger makes John Wayne Gacey look like Bozo, and makes Bozo look like Nicholson.
Two Face (spoiler alert)
Remember Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face that lovable tramp with the pink makeup and the outlandish hair. No? Neither does anyone else. If they even saw that movie. This was a low point for a Batman franchise that had reached new lows with each iteration. This was the embodiment of a one dimensional character trying to match wits with Jim Carey playing Jim Carey as himself (dressed as the Riddler)
The Dark Knights Two Face again is so complex many may not even see it coming. Plunged from a respected agent of good, by a tragic loss, into a dark vigilante, this character and Batman beg to have a compare and contrast paper written by middle school children.
Rachel Dawes
Katie “sure.” Holms Raw acting talent had only begun to be tapped when she decided to make a sharp career turn into Tom “I’m crazy” Cruise. Still no one expects much from Batman’s Love interest. Whether it is Kim Basinger, Nichole Kidman or someone else Tom Cruise has dated they are mostly there to look pretty and get into some sort of predicament.
Maggie Gyllenhaal has the natural good looks and acting talent that have eluded Batman and Bond girls alike for decades. It is nice to see a woman bring something to Batman that is not just another pair of lifeless eyes reading their equally lifeless lines.
Don’t you agree Katie Holms?
“sure.”
Well, before I start to bore you (toooo late). What I really liked about the film were the themes of life and death, vengeance and protection, chaos and order. All of these were woven together into a story that was less of a comic adaptation and more of a morality play meets explosive gangster film. I think this movie would have been just as good without any makeup and without any gadgets or explosions. Don’t get me wrong I love gadgets and explosions, but in this Batman they were simply there to further the plot of the movie. They were not the movie.
By the time the movie was over at 4am I left a happy camper. It may have just been the sleep deprivation, but this was by far the best Batman of the series and one of the better movies I have seen in the last couple years.
"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a dark knight. "
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